Elite Four Sidney/RSE
Sidney is the first challenge in the Ever Grande City gauntlet. In Ruby and Sapphire, his team is as follows: Level 46 'Mightyena ('Crunch/'Take Down'/'Sand-Attack'/'Roar'), Level 46 Cacturne (Faint Attack/'Needle Arm'/'Cotton Spore'/'Leech Seed'), Level 48 Shiftry (Fake Out/'Extrasensory'/'Double Team'/'Swagger'), Level 48 'Sharpedo ('Surf/'Crunch'/'Slash'/'Swagger'), Level 49 'Absol ('Swords Dance/'Slash'/'Aerial Ace'/'Snatch'). Your reward for defeating him in those games is passage to the next room and 4,900 Poke Dollars. In Emerald, his team is as follows: Level 46 'Mightyena ('Roar/'Double-Edge'/'Sand-Attack'/'Crunch'), Level 48 Shiftry (Torment/'Double Team'/'Swagger'/'Extrasensory'), Level 46 Cacturne (Leech Seed/'Faint Attack'/'Needle Arm'/'Cotton Spore'), Level 48 'Crawdaunt ('Surf/'Swords Dance'/'Strength'/'Facade'), Level 49 'Absol ('Aerial Ace/'Rock Slide'/'Swords Dance'/'Slash'). Your reward for defeating him remains the same as Ruby and Sapphire. Tips for Beating Sidney * Hit hard and fast: '''Sidney's Pokemon have a variety of gimmicks that can make protracted battles difficult, like Mightyena's Sand-Attack, Absol's Swords Dance, and Cacturne's Leech Seed. Therefore, it is to your benefit to win as quickly as possible and avoid his team's setup shenanigans. Fortunately for you, his team is quite frail (which makes quick KOs easier to achieve). * '''Exploit all his weaknesses: '''Even though there are several good Fighting types available in Hoenn, it might be advantageous to consider attacking the secondary types of Cacturne, Shiftry, and Sharpedo (RS) or Crawdaunt (E), since they don't provide much defensive synergy with Dark. It could just be safer overall to do so, depending on your team composition. Also, remember to bring a Pokemon with Fighting coverage that isn't actually Fighting type, because Absol carries Aerial Ace to punish Fighting types. * '''Held items could turn the tide: If you think you might find yourself in a sticky situation in this battle, for example due to Swagger-induced confusion, consider using held items that can make life easier for you. Persim, Lum, or Sitrus Berries and type-boosting items like the Black Belt might turn things around! * Sun could help: Sunny weather boosts the power of Fire-type moves, which Sidney doesn't have much of an answer for, as his Water type is rather frail in all versions, and reduces the power of his Water type's Surf, so it could be worth your while to set up sun and use it to make life easier. The one caveat about this strategy is that your sun will activate his Shiftry's Chlorophyll Ability, making it likely that Shiftry will move first with something annoying like Double Team or Swagger; plan for that accordingly. Good Pokemon to Use * Fighting types: '''Aside from his Absol's Aerial Ace, there's nothing really stopping a good Fighting type from running roughshod over this battle with its STAB moves. Examples include Blaziken, Breloom, Hariyama, and Heracross. * '''Sweepers: As mentioned above, fast and powerful attackers tend to make this battle easier. Good examples of helpful Pokemon in this category (for this fight) include Manectric, Dodrio, Blaziken, and Swellow. * Sun users: If you decide to go with the Sunny Day strategy suggested above, you'll want to bring at least one or two Pokemon that benefit from the weather; you could go with Fire types like Blaziken, Camerupt, and Torkoal and/or Chlorophyll Grass types like Shiftry, Vileplume, and Tropius for starters. Category:Boss Fights Category:Elite Four Category:Hoenn Category:Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Category:To be reviewed